Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel expressed concern on Thursday over the “dangerous situation” imposed by the vacuum at the Baabda Palace, calling on the Lebanese arch-foes, in particular those behind the obstruction of the presidential elections, to assume their responsibilities.

“Lebanese factions shouldn't under any circumstances obstruct a national, legal, constitutional and political path,” Gemayel said in a lengthy interview with the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper. “It is an unforgivable sin.”

France is seeking to encourage Iran to help the rival Lebanese politicians strike a deal on a new consensual president over fears that the regional turmoil would harm coexistence in Lebanon, diplomatic sources said.

The sources told An Nahar newspaper published on Thursday that the French initiative comes with an American support to fill the vacuum at Baabda Palace.

Speaker Nabih Berri has expressed regret that the parliament will once again Wednesday fail to elect a new president despite the “positive signs” that had emerged on the crisis.

Parliament is scheduled to convene to elect a successor to President Michel Suleiman whose six-year term ended in May.

Speaker Nabih Berri has avoided a disagreement with Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun over his stance from the extension of parliament's mandate but said that the lawmaker has a valuable opinion on a consensual presidential candidate.

As Safir daily on Tuesday quoted Berri as saying that Aoun is an “added value to the joint strategic choices.”

Speaker Nabih Berri and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat have said they are exerting efforts to launch dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement.

Local dailies published on Monday quoted Berri as saying that he and Jumblat were seeking to open channels of dialogue between the rival parties.

Kataeb Party chief Amin Gemayel insists on boycotting parliamentary sessions until lawmakers elect a new head of state, holding local parties responsible for the ongoing vacuum at the Baabda Palace and undermining the foreign factor.

“Each side considers itself right,” Gemayel said in an interview with al-Akhbar newspaper on Friday.

British Ambassador Tom Fletcher has said that the election of a new president in Lebanon does not require the involvement of other countries, expressing disappointment at the failure of MPs to choose a head of state and warning of its dire consequences.

The constitution is clear in terms of the election of a new head of state, Fletcher told As Safir daily in an interview published on Friday.

The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday urged the Lebanese parliament to quickly choose a new president to bolster stability as war rages across the border in Syria.

Lebanon has been without a president since May because of disagreements between lawmakers.

The March 14 alliance's general-secretariat said Wednesday that the extension of parliament's mandate for two years and seven months should not be taken as a principle.

“The extension taking place in institutions can't become a rule. The principle lies in respecting the state and its institutions and swiftly electing a president and approving a new electoral law that would lead to holding the polls,” the general-secretariat said following its weekly meeting.

Speaker Nabih Berri is seeking to avoid a crisis with Bkirki over Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi's recent criticism of MPs for the extension of their term until June 2017.

Berri is expressing “understanding” at the anger expressed by al-Rahi over the failure to elect a new president and the extension of the legislature's mandate for two years and seven months, according to local dailies published on Wednesday.